Looking At The Surroundings
Mark
Me and my big mouth I swear. Not only is there swamplands to the north, there is an icy tundra to the west, a jungle to the east, and mountains to the south. What was this damn planet? The environments made no sense whatsoever. At least Altrea didn't run into any issues with placing the cameras. I had to adjust the cameras to be heat and cold resistant though, so they didn't melt or freeze. It didn't cost me much thankfully, only an additional two mana.
By the time Altrea returned, I recovered most of my mana except for three. So I currently have 17 mana to work with. The first thing I did was draw the fridge and freezer filled with ready-made meals that just needed to be warmed up in the oven or microwave. However these meals weren't things that would normally be ready-made meals, but I detailed it as such in the drawings to maintain the freshness for years.
It only cost me six mana to fill the fridge and freezer with food, then I created a second fridge filled with water, orange juice, apple juice, lemonade, and iced tea. That cost three mana. So it was better to create things in bulk rather than separately when it came to food. I grabbed some steak and fries for myself and Altrea to eat. After I warmed them up in the microwave, we ate.
"Alright Altrea, our next step is our defenses and getting you some more companions. Your companions wouldn't have the same potential as you since it would be too much of a drain on the current me, but I believe I know of a way to create more in a more consistent capacity. When it comes to defenses, do you have suggestions on a good way to make walls, spiked traps, and the like without having to do everything myself in a fast capacity?" Altrea rubbed her chin in thought as she was chewing on some fries.
"Perhaps you can create the materials necessary and create some golems to build them? You could also create a dwarf or a few to advise them better on what to build and where." That was actually a pretty good idea.
"Thank you for the wonderful advice Altrea, the materials for the walls will have to be stone and wood for now though. I don't think I have the capacity to provide large amounts of anything rarer than that right now." She nodded at that and went back to finishing her meal. I started drawing a storage building that would be used to store wood and stone. I added a specific detail that it would function similar to a hammerspace and store things with a large capacity. The capacity itself I just set it to be whatever half of my full mana could get me, then drew stone and wood to fill said warehouse.
The warehouse itself, I attached it to the main brick house so it wasn't too far away. After I finished eating and finished the drawing, the warehouse took 12 mana to create. Half of my mana for the spatial inventory, and two for the wood and stone. I didn't specify what type of stone or wood so I assume that it took the cheapest I could get with my mana.
I next drew some robots that would serve as builders. I would have them also be solar powered with a battery that could last months once fully charged. I drew ten of them, each had a humanoid figure but the key thing about them is that each had a build skill at the start that could be improved. It cost eight mana total, but that told me that I could give base level skills without much of an additional cost.
I had the robots on standby for now next to the warehouse while I rested and recovered my mana. I watched over the cameras and Altrea went out to practice her archery again. By the time the sun started setting, my mana recovered and I started drawing two female dwarves. One would be specialized in building, the other in blacksmithing. Both dwarves were four feet tall with modest figures. They had black hair, wearing white shirts and black pants. They also had black boots to go along with their outfit. Their eyes were green, and their hair was tied behind their back.
I drew the one specialized in building that I named Melessy commanding the robots. Then I drew the one specialized in blacksmithing now named Beatrice in a smithy, sitting by the forge. I did something different this time and gave them a class similar to video games that have production classes. Also the ability to gain a variety of skills outside of said class.
I didn't use my skill on both at the same time though, I started with Melessy and it went off without a hitch. Although it drained all but two of my mana. She started to form outside so I stepped outside and watched her fully form near the robots standing at storage. She quickly became active once my mana receded.
"Alright you robotic maggots! We got work to do! The Creator needs us to make defenses against a bunch of disgusting zombies so let's get moving!" She only turned around to bow to me, before she got to work commanding the robots to grab wood and stone from the warehouse. After the robots started moving in the direction she directed them to, she headed my way to speak to me.
"Creator, once you have brought my sister to life, we shall get to work on providing the best defenses possible with what you have provided us. I do suggest trying to create some clay if you can. It shouldn't be any harder to create than stone, and we can make bricks with it. Also some cement if possible, we can gain water from the hose attached to your home." I nodded at her and mentally took note of that.
"Alright, it will probably be a few hours before I recover, but once that happens I will create your sister, recover mana again, then create the forge, then make the clay and cement we need. If you need food or water, there is plenty within the brick house." She bowed to me after that.
"Thank you Creator. I will get to work with the robots to create the foundations necessary with what we have. If all the timing lines up, we should be finished with a few hours to spare before the first wave of zombies arrive." It was good that they had memories implemented in them of my current situation. It made things easier so I didn't have to explain a bunch of things. She quickly ran off after I nodded at her, then I went inside.
I wish there was more I could do, but I can't at the moment with the meager amount of mana I have. I can only do things in bursts. It is what it is though. I watched the cameras as I passed the time observing the different environments. The swamp had quite a few different animals. Mostly zombified, but some of them weren't. I saw large cobras, some alligators and deer. I even saw a giant black bear. The thing was almost 20 feet tall. I took some notes on a note app on the computer about each creature I saw and observed.
The icy tundra had zombie wolves, polar bears, and bunnies that I saw. The mountains had salamanders, and the first type of humanoid zombie I could see. Zombified miners. The zombies had mining gear and pickaxes. They were sluggish, but had power behind each strike they took when they hit rock walls in the mountains. Weirdly enough, the jungle had the normal zombies that one would expect from a zombie apocalypse. I occasionally saw normal deer, wolves, and the like, but the normal zombies ignored the wildlife.
The zombies themselves were the slow walking kind. Occasionally there would be crawlers, or special ones that can climb trees, but they were all slow. That's a good sign, at least one direction won't have some crazy zombified creatures. I still remained vigilant though in case there was something crazy hidden there. Once I got general observations on each area, I was able to recover my mana. Due to this I created the forge that I drew first before I made Beatrice since I expected it to cost less. The smithy that held the forge was not too far from the warehouse.
It cost around 14 mana, most likely due to the fact that it does not require fuel to heat the forge, but instead a meter that can be increased or decreased spending on the needed temperature. Beatrice would be able to utilize it the best.
Once the sun set and the half moon rose, I was able to create Beatrice for the same cost as Melessy. My mana flowed to the smithy which made sense, so I visited the smithy and stepped into the forge and watched Beatrice be formed. Once she formed with a hammer of her own to utilize, she bowed to me similar to her sister.
"Ay master. Nice to meet ya. I am ready to do what's needed to help defend us against the zombies. When ya get the chance, if ye can make me some iron and cloth to work with, I can make some armor, and weapons for future defenders. Otherwise, I'll start working with Melessy on our defenses, and start making bricks and cement when you store the rest of the materials." I agreed with her, and left her to her devices in the forge.
Once again I was at home, chilling on the couch, the big difference this time was that the three girls were eating with each other. I made an additional table that barely constituted a tenth of a mana point in the living room. After everyone finished eating, they headed outside to continue working. I recovered ten mana, which was plenty to refill the storage with stone and wood. Then add a large amount of clay and cement.
The next step was to create as many that could fight as possible so Altrea wasn't the only fighter. In order for me to make as many as possible, I would need to take away the ability to level up, and perhaps the inventory ability as well. I can always add more later on since I can add more to my drawings after they become real. I fully recovered my mana after a few hours of waiting, then did a test.
I drew an elf that looked similar to Altrea, but more petite, with blonde hair. I gave them a similar bow, and quiver. The big difference is that they didn't have the ability to level up stats, and they didn't have a spatial inventory. I also didn't get too detailed on the soul. However, I made it so they could obtain and level skills. Another decision I made is to not name them, at least not right now. Perhaps I would think of names in the future, once I survived the impending waves of zombies.
Once I finalized the drawing and used my power, I only used five mana. The elf formed in front of my house, and Altrea happened to be nearby so I brought her over.
"Altrea, this will be one of many companions I will create that will serve as our ranged fighters. Your job will be to train them in a timely manner to prepare them for the upcoming waves." The new elf bowed towards me, then saluted Altrea.
"Yes creator, I shall wait here until you have expended your mana before I start training the new recruits. May I request that we go outside to test the waters with some zombies once I have given some basic training to them?" I nodded towards her.
"Permission granted, I will just go ahead and create three more, then I will see if I can delve into other possibilities for allies that can fight alongside us. I will probably go with the basics for now though and create some melee fighters, perhaps in the form of beings that won't have a chance of turning undead if a zombie were to hit or bite them. I have no idea what type of diseases the zombies have." Beatrice appeared while we were talking and placed a chair for me to sit on outside the front door.
"Might I suggest creating warriors that have the holy element? I do believe that tends to be the bane of most undead." Beatrice gave her opinion as she pulled out another chair from her inventory and sat on it.
"That would be a good idea actually. I was also thinking of trying to create different types of mages as well, however I am concerned if it would cause a permanent drain on my mana or not. Or if I have enough to even create it in the first place." Beatrice nodded at me sagely like she understood the prospect of what I was describing.
The next thing I started drawing would be a pair of glasses. The reason being would be that they would allow the wearer to scan their surroundings, and appraise items, and enemies alike to figure out their estimated power. Another caveat I added to the glasses was the fact that they could only be used by me or those that I drew into existence. I wouldn't want the things I create to be used against me, especially this one as it could be used for intel gathering.
I finished the drawing for the glasses, but didn't finalize them as I just used my remaining mana to create three more elves first. The next three elves looked like copies of the one I made earlier, except I gave them different body proportions so that they could stand apart from one another.